NORSA member Tom Saffell participated in the annual Kensington 8K to benefit area schools. The very hilly running course begins by the old Kensingon armory, which is now the town hall, and immediately spills out on to historic Antique Row as it follows Kensington Parkway. After the runners approach their first mile marker, they then enter Rock Creek Park and run on Beach Drive up to Connecticut and then back down until it hits Old Spring Road. Once there, the course then cuts into the neighborhood of Rock Creek Hills and up a monster hill on East Bexhill Road until it re-joins Kensington Parkway. The home stretch is around the circle at the Noyes Library for Young Children and then a sprint down the flat straightaway of Armory Avenue.
The morning of the race dawned humid and damp as it had rained all through the previous night. The runner's were spared the precipitation, but they had to contend with the damp and, in the park, the junglish heat that was very unusual for late September. Dodging huge puddles and areas of light flooding along Rock Creek, many runners found themselves hindered by fallen branches and even passing deer. It was a very interesting run, indeed.
Tom raced alone for NORSA and finished the race in exactly one hour (and 51 seconds), an addition of eight minutes to his previous year's time. He attributes the extra time to a combination of his own lack of preparation and the sloppy conditions of the course. Furthermore, he looks to next year and hopes to beat his previous time of 00:52:53 in the 2007 Kensington 8K.
